Listen to Francesca chatting to Chris Evans on the BBC Radio 2 Breakfast Show about this year’s competition!
Francesca is once again on the judging panel for Chris Evans’s 500 Words children’s short story writing competition. She will be joined on the panel by Malorie Blackman, Charlie Higson and Frank Cottrell Boyce.
Now in its fifth year, the contest requires children in two categories – 9 & under, and 10-13 years – to compose an original short story of no more than 500 words before the closing date on 26 February. The submitted entries will then be read by an army of book-loving librarians and teachers from across the country before being whittled down to a top 50 which are in turn read by the five judges.
The writers of the top 50 stories will be invited to attend a broadcast of The Chris Evans Breakfast Show that will be broadcast live on Friday 29th May, 2015, from St James’s Palace, and six winners, chosen by the team of author judges, will have their stories read out by a famous narrator.
The winner of the best story will receive a “gold prize” of Chris Evans’ height in books, plus 500 books for their school. The silver prize winner will get co-presenter Alex Jones’ height in books, and the bronze prize winner will get their own height in books.
